Prefabricated and demountable house construction



March 30, 1948. GOGERTY 2,438,604

TED

Filed Jan. 8, 1943 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 30, 1948. H. L. GOGERTY 2,433,604

PREFABRICATED AND DEMOUNTABLE- HOUSE CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 8, 1943 3 Sheets-Sheeti I II h I 3nnentorg l/E/YRY 1. 606527).

March 1948- H. L. GOGERTY 2,438,604

PREFABRICATED AND DEMOUNTABLE HOUSE CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 8, 1943 3 Sheets$heet 3 q rpuilli'llfi. 'v. ill} Zhmentor:

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' Patented Mar. 30, 1948 UNITED STATES j PATENT orrlcs PREFABRICATED AND DEMOUNTABLE HOUSE CONSTRUCTION Henry L. Gogerty, North Hollywood, Calif.

Application January 8, 1943, Serial No. 471,702

1 2 Claims.

My invention relates to the art of building construction with particular reference to the construction of homes, though it will be understood that the invention is of utility in the construction of any building comprising in whole or part, the floor, walls, roof and interior walls, thereof,

The invention is specifically directed to a type of construction enabling homes to be prefabricated at a central point and then rapidly erected on the home site to provide a sturdy building properly braced to withstand all stresses acting upon it and yet capable of ready dismantling and reerection at some other location, thus meetin an urgent necessity of times in which migrations of workers are necessary to provide a work force adjacent work centers, such as munition factories or shipyards which during war are expanded to several times their normal capacity, or to meet the need of numerous dwellings to house refugees from areas devastated by the enemy in time of War, or by storms, earthquakes or fires.

An object of the invention is to provide a building composed of a plurality of basic prefabricated units which are secured in place with a minimum of fastening means, such as nails or bolts, the units being fitted into keyways provided by framing members or interlocking with said framing members.

A further object of the invention is to reduce work done on location to a minimum thus ensuring that the desirable characteristics of the design are not deleteriously affected by unskilled or not fully trained workmen.

A further object of the invention is to provide a building composed of a plurality of units locked together to form a rigid structure designed to be amply strong to resist all stresses by the interlocking of the framing members and the plurality of units, a relatively few fastening means such as nails or bolts serving to complete. the structure, the removal ofsaid nails or bolts enabling the building to be readily disassembled without injury to the units of which it is composed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a building structure permitting a plurality of designs to be built up since the basic units may be arranged in various combinations.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a building construction capable of rapid erection and dismantling and readily transported in dismantled condition due to the self contained and individually framed nature of the units of which it is composed,

A still further object of the invention is to provide a low cost but adequate building, costing little Other objects, advantage and features ofiin vention may appear from the accompanying drawings, the subjoined detail description, and the appended claims.

The accompanying, drawings illustrate the inp vention in a form I at present deemv preferable;

and in the accompanying specification the inven tion is described by way of example'only as .applied to a typical small dwelling having four rooms and a low pitched roof, and it is tobe understood that the scope of, the invention is in no :way' limited to this illustratlve'embodiment but only ofthe appended claimsl'e 1' as defined by the scope In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective elevation partlyy-in j section of a dwelling constructed in accordance? with my invention.

Fig. 2 is 9. fragments! view in vertical cross sec tion on line 2-2, Fig. 1, showing the arrangement 1 of parts connecting the upper ends oi ,.ve'rtl calvj members to horizontal members and too bers. Fig. 3 is a fragmental view in horizontal section on line 3-3, Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a fragmental view in verticalcross section on line 4-4, Fig. 1, showing thearrangement of walls, floor and framing elements at the foot of,

an upright frame member. i Fig. 5 is a view in vertical cross section on line 5-5, Fig, 1, showing thearrangement of partsat the upper end of a vertical or studding-frame member at its. pointof connection to thelroof members.

Fig. 6 is a view in horizontal cross sectlonon line 6-6, Fig. 1, showlngfthe arrangement of parts at a point intermediate the ends of the vertical frame member shown in Figs. 5 and '7.

Fig. '7 is a view in vertical cross section on-line 1-1, Fig. 1, showing the arrangement of parts at the lower end of the vertical frame member shown inFigs. 5 and 6. r

Fig. 8 is a fragmental view in vertical cross section on line 8-8, Fig. 1, showing the arrangement of parts at the upper end of a vertical framing member at the'point of connection of the framing member with a partition wall.

Fig. 9 is a fragmental view in vertical cross section on line 9-9, Fig.11. showing the arrangement of parts at thelowerend of the vertical framing member shown in Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is a fragmental view in cross section on line Ill-l0. Fig. 1, showing the arrangement of some cases this may not be necessary.

. 3 parts at the center line of the roof and connection of the roof frame members to the upper end ofa vertical frame member or studding.

Fig. 11 is a fragmental view in horizontal cross section on line ll-H, Fig. 1, showing the arrangement of parts at the junction of partition walls at right angles to one another with a vertical frame member or studding;

Fig. 12 is a fragmental view in vertical cross section of the arrangement of parts at the lower end of the vertical framing member shown in Figs. and 11.

Fig. 13 is a fragmental view in horizontal cross section on line l3-i3, Fig.1.

Figure 1 illustrates generally the salient features of my invention which are the use of piers I on which the dwelling is supported, thereby insuring a dry house with sufficient space between the door and ground to ensure full ventilation, and the integration of a plurality of self braced floor, wall and roof units to form a complete building with the units locked to ether by framing members and a small number of securing means.

The piers l are preferably formed of concre which may be poured on the site or may be preformed, as determined by questions of relative cost, nature of building site, etc. Preferably the piers I rest on footings of concrete though in Ties 2 are preferably cast in the concrete piers and it will be seen that in the form of the invention illustrated, ties 2 and 211 (see Fig. 4) are shown;

the wall panels.

The vertical framing members or studding I is formed of material of sufilcient strength to securely support the adjacent wall units. The studdings I rest at their lower ends on the sills 3. or if desired are carried through cut-outs in the sills and rest directly on the piers l. The lower ends of the studdings are secured to abutting floor joists bybolts or nails as shown in Figs. 4 and 9. The surface covering of the wall units overlie the edges of the studdings and are positioned by this engagement or by any suitable interlocking surfaces arranged on the vertical edges of the wall units and the edges of the studdings.

The upper horizontal edges of the wall units are securely held by horizontal framing members or stringers 8 which also serve to lock the upper ends of the vertical framing members or studding in position. The upper ends of the studding members extend through lock plates 8a which are secured to the horizontal stringers, and the upper horizontal edges of the wall units and the lower tie 2 serving to resist any force tending to separate the floor from the piers while tie 2a serves to brace the structure against forces tending to slide the floor over the piers. The space between the floor and the ground is sufficient to permit installation of heating equipment of the floor type and to inspect piping, install gas and electric meters. 3 indicates a sill resting on top of the piers and floor joists 4 in turn rest on the sills. It is to be understood that the piers l are arranged according to the plan of the house to support the floor joists and walls. The characteristic feature of self supporting units is clearly shown in Fig. 1, the floor units comprising floor joists or load carrying members 4 and connecting members 5, flooring 6 being nailed across the frame formed by members 4 and 5. The floor units are laid side by side, extending from a row of piers supporting one end of the floor unit to another row of piers supporting the opposite end of the units; and as shown in Fig. 1 a floor board 6a can be arranged to cover the joint between one floor unit and the adjacent unit. It will be seen that the construction described affords a sturdy and rigid floor.

The floor joists are supported on the piers I so as to leave room for the support of vertical framing members I which with horizontal members The outer wall is formed of a plurality of units each individually framed by vertical members 9 surfaces of the stringer members 8 are formed with interlocking surfaces serving to hold the upper edges of the wall units securely in position. In the form of the invention illustrated, the lower face .of the stringer or tie member 8 is provided with grooves (see Fig. 2) to receive the projecting edges of the covering ll of plywood or the like secured to the faces of the wall units.

The roof is built up of self braced units similar to the floor units, though since in some localities no heavy snow loads need be provided for, the construction shown in Fig. 1 has been found to be entirely satisfactory, and as shown in Fig. 1, i3 indicates side framing members and I4 indicates intermediate bearing members, and IS indicates transverse members completing the peripheral frame of the roof unit, l6 indicates a covering of material such as plywood applied to the units. The side members of the units, as is the case in floor and wall units, lie against opposite sides of the vertical studding and are secured to said studding by nails or bolts driven through the studding ends projecting through the horizontal tie or stringer members 8.

To aii'ord additional rigidity I prefer to provide thus providing a, plurality of base girders of great rigidity- If the roof has to be designed to carry heavy loads, transverse load carrying members may be inserted to extend between the side frame members of the roof units; but, for dry areas such as the Southwestern United States, the roof construction shown in Fig. 1 has been found satisfactory. In this construction, in a small dwelling. the roof units may extend from the center line of the house in opposite directions to the walls. Roofing material of any desired type such as tarred feltmay be laid directly on the plywood roof unit covering or by nailing strips across the roof units interlocking tiles could be used.

The ceiling can be applied directly to the unv derside of the roof units in the form of wide sheets of material or in any other desired form.

Preferably the roof is carried out to form wide eaves supported by projecting brackets that are nailed or bolted to the roof units at the sides of the roof, if so desired. Ventilation of the roof may be provided for by leaving apertures in the ends of the roof units and providing spaces, as indicated at V in Fig. 1 in the inner end framing members of the roof units, the usual vents being provided to lead warm air out into the open.

The width of the wall units can be uniform, and may be, and .preferably is so chosen, that standard width of wall board may be readily incorporated. This is an important feature of the invention since not only is the work of fabrication greatly facilitated but the provision of doors and windows is simplified by the use of units of an inexpensive but very satisfactory construction of prefabricated building and one possessing great flexibility in the arrangement of rooms and in the possibility of use of whatever lumber uniform width, certain of the wall units being fitted with doors hung on the edge framing members which are preferably of double thickness to compensate for loss of rigidity due to omission of bracing members, while window frames may be fitted in other similarly strengthened units.

Interior partitions are preferably formed similarly to the outside walls though if desired, thickness of the units may be less, and of course the covering material could be of lighter gauge or thickness.

Insulation may be readily placed within the space between the wall unit covering and by providing a double skin to floor and roof units, to the floor and roof as well for locations subject to severe heat or cold.

While I have shown securing means in the form of nails or bolts to tie the pier units together, and to tie the building to hold the walls, roof and floor together, it is pointed out that in certain locations or in all of them other means may be employed instead, thereby avoiding any-marring of the timbers of the structure.

In many locations in the drawings furring nails are illustrated, while ordinary nails would serve to secure the parts together. This is done to indicate that at these locations such furring may be easily and quickly engaged by a claw hammer or wrecking tool to remove the same, thereby reducing breakage of the frame unitsv to a mini-' mum and providing ease of withdrawal of the nails when the structure is disassembled for removal purposes.

The installation of plumbing and electrical wiring is facilitated by the self supporting nature of the units which may be first erected into a complete structure interlocked with the framing members of the building and the pipes and/or wiring then run through the individual units as may be necessary after which the units can be 55 1,133,1

finished by securing the wall panels either exte rior or interior, in position.

It will be apparent that my invention provides or materials are most readily obtainable in any particular locality and in which the need for foundation digging or lot levelling has been reduced to a minimum, further the work required to be done on the homesite is reduced to merely fitting and nailing or bolting or tying the frame and unit members into a complete structure, together with the usual installation of plumbing, electrical wiring and gas piping.

I claim:

1. In a prefabricated building structure having floor joists, wall units and rafters, as a part thereof, the combination of: a vertical framing member disposed at the junction of two walls of said structure and secured top and bottom to a rafter and joist respectively; a horizontal framing member provided with an aperture therein through which said vertical member passes; a second horizontal framing member abutting said first horizontal member; and a plate secured to a horizontal face of said abuttingmember and provided with an aperture through which'said vertical member passes, whereby said various parts are firmly locked together.

2. In a prefabricated building structure having floor joists, walls and rafters as a part thereof,

the combination of: a vertical stud disposed at v HENRY L. GOGER'I'Y.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 250,867 Wrigley Dec. 13, 1881 540,084 Abruzzo May 28, 1895 788,445 White Apr. 25, 1905 Henderson Mar. 23, 1915 1,702,340 Gates Feb. 19, 1929 2,037,736 Payne et a1. Apr. 21, 1936 2,337,224 Benoist Dec. 21, 1943 

